Method for conducting an on-line bidding session with bid pooling

ABSTRACT

The invention presents a method for conducting an on-line bidding session to accumulate a collective bid for a property. The bidding session is conducted over a computer network that includes a central computer, a number of remote computers, and communication lines connecting the remote computers to the central computer. According to the method, at least one bidding group is registered in the central computer. The bidding group can be an association, institution, or group of investors formed for the purpose of bidding together for the property. The bidding group has a total bid for the property which is tracked in the central computer. The central computer receives bids entered from the remote computers by members of the bidding group. Each bid includes an individual bid amount which is contributed to the total bid of the group to accumulate the collective bid for the property.

RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.08/603,131 filed Feb. 20, 1996 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,219. and acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/784,270, filed Jan.15, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,133, which are herein incorporated byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to on-line auctions, and inparticular to a method for conducting an on-line bidding session thatallows individual bidders to pool their bids in real-time during thebidding session.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Auctions provide a popular and exciting marketplace for the buying andselling of property. In particular, auctions are often used to sellhighly valued properties such as fine art, collectibles, real estate,and luxury items. Traditionally, participation in these high stakesauctions has been exclusively reserved for the extremely wealthy. Manyordinary individuals who would like to participate in the excitement ofa high stakes auction are denied access for two reasons.

The first reason is that individual bidders are usually required toattend an auction in person to place a bid on an item for sale. Thisrequirement limits participation in the auction to those people who livenear the auction site or those people who can afford the time andexpense to travel to the auction site. The second reason is that biddersare required to have sufficient funds to pay for a sale item should theyplace the winning bid. Because very few people can afford the price ofan expensive property, bidding is limited to extremely wealthyindividuals or to organizations who have raised sufficient funds to payfor a winning bid before the bidding session has begun. Both of theserestrictions must be overcome before participation in high stakesauctions can become more widespread.

Many attempts have been made to solve the first problem, gaining bidaccess to an auction without having to be physically present at anauction site. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,928 issued to Fujisaki onDec. 6, 1988 describes an auction information processing system whichenables individuals spread over a wide area to participate in an on-lineauction. The system includes a host computer connected via communicationlines to remote terminals. Individual bidders enter bids from the remoteterminals and the current highest bid and eventual winning bid aredisplayed in real-time on the remote terminals.

While this system has the advantage of allowing a large number ofbidders to participate in an on-line auction, it has the disadvantage ofrequiring each bidder to have sufficient funds to cover a winning bid.Thus, this system solves the first problem of gaining remote access toauctions, but it still limits participation to those individuals who canpersonally afford the entire purchase price of the property for sale.

Another computerized bidding system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.4,903,201 issued to Wagner on Feb. 20, 1990. Wagner describes anautomated futures trading exchange in which bids to purchase or offersto sell a particular commodity contract are made by exchange membersthrough remote terminals connected to an exchange computer. The exchangecomputer matches offer prices and bid prices to complete tradingtransactions. This system described by Wagner suffers from the samedisadvantage of requiring each individual bidder to have sufficientfunds to cover a winning bid. Additionally, bidders are limited toexchange members, so that the ordinary public is excluded fromparticipating.

A teleprocessing system used by QVC Incorporated is described in anarticle entitled "Fashion Re-Evaluates Flickering Fortunes of TV HomeShopping", WWD, Nov. 8, 1995 V170 N87. Shoppers call from their homephones to order items advertised on their television screens. As theorders are received, QVC tallies how many people have bought eachparticular sale item. QVC then displays the tally for each item on theviewers' television screens in real-time. This interactive televisionmethod of buying an item provides easy remote access to a sale andreal-time feedback to buyers. Unfortunately, it also requires each homeshopper to pay for items individually, so that the sale is limited torelatively low cost items.

Another use of television to sell items is described in an articleentitled. "Auctions Become High Tech", Dealer Business, March 1995 V29N7. The article describes an auction system in which an auction companysends a signal via satellite to the televisions of individual cardealers. The dealers view a car for sale on their televisions and bid onthe car using a telephone or a remote terminal. Like the previouson-line auction systems, this system requires each bidder to havesufficient money to cover the entire cost of the property for sale.

In addition to the auctions mentioned above, several on-line auctionsare now being conducted over the Internet. One such auction is describedin an article entitled "Cathay Pacific Airways-USA to Hold First EverInternet CyberAuction" Business Wire, Sep. 26, 1995 p9261084. Thearticle states that Cathay Pacific is auctioning off fifty businessclass seats from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. Registered bidders submitconcealed bids by electronic mail over a two week bidding session. Thefifty highest bidders at the close of the bidding session receive anelectronic mail message instructing them on how to purchase tickets.This auction system suffers from the same disadvantage of requiring eachbidder to have sufficient funds to pay for a winning bid. Moreover, bidinformation is not displayed to bidders in real-time.

Similarly, Save the Earth Foundation has an Artrock Auction that isdescribed at their world-wide web site http://www.commerce.com/save₋₋earth. To participate in the auction, bidders register and submit bidsfor auction items through the Internet. Bidders are notified byelectronic mail when a bid higher than their own is placed on an item.The winning bidder is also contacted by electronic mail at the close ofthe bidding session. As in the Cathay Pacific auction, the ArtrockAuction requires each bidder to have sufficient funds to pay for awinning bid, and bid information is not displayed to the bidders inreal-time.

Auction Web also has on-line auctions, as described at their world-wideweb site http://www.ebay.com. In this auction system, bidders alsoregister and submit bids through the Internet. Items for sale aregraphically displayed on the bidders' screens, in addition to the bidinformation for each item. Bid information is updated hourly throughouteach two week bidding session. Similarly, Christie's Internationaldescribes "Results of the World's First On-Line Auction" at theirworld-wide web site http://www.christies.com. In Christie's auction,bidders register and submit bids in the same manner as the Auction Webauction. Unfortunately, like the previously mentioned on-line auctions,both Auction Web and Christie's require each bidder to have sufficientfunds to pay for a winning bid.

Thus, existing on-line auctions require each bidder to have sufficientfunds to cover a winning bid, severely restricting the number of peoplewho can participate in a high stakes auction. Additionally, not all ofthe on-line auctions enable bidders to view bid information inreal-time, further limiting the excitement of the auction for those fewwho can afford to participate.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide amethod for conducting an on-line bidding session that permits individualbidders to pool their bids in order to accumulate a collective bid for aproperty. It is another object of the invention to greatly increase thenumber of participants in the bidding session by permitting bidders tocontribute amounts of any size to the collective bid. It is a furtherobject of the invention to display updated bid information in real-timefor bidders to view from remote computers or terminals.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent after consideration of the ensuing description andthe accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY

The invention presents a method for conducting an on-line biddingsession to accumulate a collective bid for a property. The biddingsession is conducted over a computer network that includes a centralcomputer, a number of remote computers, and communication linesconnecting the remote computers to the central computer. In a preferredembodiment, the central computer is a world-wide web server and thecommunication lines are Internet lines that connect bidders at theirremote computers to the world-wide web server.

The method includes the step of registering at least one bidding groupin the central computer. The bidding group can be an association,institution, museum, or group of investors formed purely for the purposeof bidding together for the property. The bidding group has a total bidfor the property which is tracked in the central computer. The methodalso includes the step of receiving in the central computer bids enteredfrom the remote computers by members of the bidding group. Each of thebids includes an individual bid amount to be added to the total bid. Themethod further includes the step of contributing the individual bidamounts to the total bid to accumulate the collective bid for theproperty. The total bid is preferably displayed to the bidders on theremote computers and updated in real-time after each bid amount is addedto the total bid.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the method also includes thestep of creating a bidder account for each bidder in an account creationcomputer networked to the central computer. Each bidder account includesa bidder name, a bidder identification number, and a financial accountnumber, such as the bidder's credit card, checking account, or savingsaccount number. In this embodiment, each bid received in the centralcomputer also includes the name and identification number of the personcontributing the bid. At the close of a bidding session, if the biddinggroup accumulates a total bid sufficient to acquire the property, eachindividual bid contributed to the total bid is matched by bidderidentification number to a corresponding bidder account. Thecorresponding bidder account is then charged the bid amount contributed,facilitating collection of the total bid of the group.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a computer network according to apreferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the creation of a bidder accountaccording to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a sample account creation form as it appears on the screen ofa remote computer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sample confirmation message as it appears on the screen of aremote computer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the processing of a bid accordingto the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a sample bid entry form as it appears on the screen of aremote computer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method for conducting an on-linebidding session according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the creation of a bidder account(step 120 in FIG. 7).

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the execution of a bidding session(step 130 in FIG. 7).

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating the processing of a winning group(step 150 in FIG. 7).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-6 illustrate a preferred computer network for conducting anon-line bidding session according to the present invention. Referring toFIG. 1, the computer network 10 includes a central computer 18 of anon-line auction company 12. Central computer 18 is connected to adatabase server 16 serving a bidder database 14 such that database 14 isaccessible to central computer 18. Central computer 18 is furthernetworked to a router 20 and a modem M1 for connecting central computer18 to communication lines 24. In the preferred embodiment, centralcomputer 18 is a world-wide web server machine and communication lines24 are Internet lines.

Network 10 further includes an account creation computer 28 of anaccount company 26. Account company 26 is preferably of the type thatprovides Internet users with a secure account for performing on-linecommerce, such as First Virtual Holdings Incorporated located at 11975El Camino Real, Suite 300, San Diego, Calif. Account creation computer28 has a modem M2 for connecting account creation computer 28 tocommunications lines 24.

Network 10 also includes a number of remote computers 30 each having amodem M3 for connecting the remote computers to communication lines 24.For simplicity of illustration, only three remote computers areillustrated in FIG. 1. It is to be understood, however, that any numberof remote computers can be included in the computer network of thepresent invention. Further, the preferred embodiment utilizes modems andthe Internet to network central computer 18, account creation computer28, and remote computers 30. It will be apparent to one skilled in theart that any type of connections may be used to network the computers.Specific techniques for networking computers are well known.

Each remote computer 30 preferably has an Internet browser 29 fordisplaying web content in the form of Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML).A suitable browser is Netscape 3.01 available from Netscape Corporationof Mountain View, Calif. Browser 29 allows remote computers 30 to accessand display the content of an HTML template 22 residing on centralcomputer 18. HTML template 22 contains the main web pages displayed toon-line bidders on remote computers 30. Similarly, account creationcomputer 28 has an on-line account HTML template 27 accessible fromremote computers 30. In a particularly advantageous embodiment,templates 22 and 27 are Secure HTML templates, and Internet browser 29is a Secure HTML compliant browser. Using Secure HTML ensuresconfidentiality for the account and bid transactions that will bedescribed below.

FIG. 2 illustrates the main components of central computer 18, accountcreation computer 28, and remote computer 30 used in the creation of abidder account 40 and a registration record 42. A bidder 38 at remotecomputer 30 accesses on-line account HTML template 27 residing onaccount creation computer 28. Template 27 contains an account creationform 32 which is displayed to bidder 38 on the screen of remote computer30.

FIG. 3 shows a sample account creation form 32. Account creation form 32has three fields 54 corresponding to a bidder name 44, a financialaccount number 46, and a financial account type 48. In the preferredembodiment, financial account number 46 is a credit card numbercorresponding to a credit card account of the bidder. In alternativeembodiments, financial account number 46 is the number of a checkingaccount, savings account, or any other account in which the bidder hasavailable cash or credit. Account creation form 32 also contains a note56 advising the bidder that a bidder identification number will beassigned in a new account confirmation message, as will be describedbelow. Additionally, form 32 contains a button 52 for the bidder topress to send form 32 to account creation computer 28 after completingthe form.

Referring again to FIG. 2, account creation computer 28 has anelectronic mail server E2 for sending a new account confirmation message34 to bidder 38 at remote computer 30. Remote computer 30 has anelectronic mail client E3 for receiving and confirming new accountconfirmation message 34. FIG. 4 illustrates a sample accountconfirmation message 34. Message 34 includes four fields 55corresponding to the bidder name 44, financial account number 46,financial account type 48, and bidder identification number 50. Bidderidentification number 50 is generated by account creation computer 28upon receipt of a valid account creation form. Message 34 furthercontains a note 58 advising the bidder to confirm the new accountinformation with the account company.

Referring again to FIG. 2, account creation computer 28 has storagecapability for storing a bidder account 40 that includes the bidder name44, financial account number 46, and bidder identification number 50.Additionally, mail server E2 is capable of generating a bidderregistration message 36 upon receipt of account confirmation from remotecomputer 30. Registration message 36 includes the bidder name 44 andbidder identification number 50 from the corresponding bidder account.Central computer 18 has an electronic mail server E1 for receiving theregistration message 36 from mail server E2. Mail server E1 is linked tobidder database 14 such that a corresponding registration record 42 iscreated in bidder database 14 upon receipt of registration message 36.Registration record 42 includes the bidder name 44 and bidderidentification number 50.

FIG. 5 illustrates the main components of central computer 18, bidderdatabase 14, and remote computer 30 used to submit and record bids inthe on-line bidding session. The HTML template 22 residing on centralcomputer 18 contains a bid entry form 76. Bid entry form 76 is displayedon the screen of remote computer 30 when bidder 38 accesses HTMLtemplate 22 through communication lines 24.

FIG. 6 illustrates a sample bid entry form 76. Form 76 preferablyincludes a block 70 showing a graphical picture 72 and/or a description74 of a property for sale. Bid entry form 76 also lists one or morebidding groups 66 with each bidding group having a total bid 68 for theproperty. Although two bidding groups are illustrated in FIG. 6, it isto be understood that the method for conducting an on-line biddingsession according to the present invention may be practiced with onlyone bidding group or with any number of bidding groups. In any case,each bidding group has a total bid for the property.

Form 76 further includes four fields 57 corresponding to the bidder name44, bidder identification number 50, bid amount 62, and bid designation64. Bid designation 64 indicates the bidding group for which the bid isintended, and bid amount 62 is the amount that the bidder desires tocontribute to the total bid of the designated group. Form 76additionally includes an enter bid button 78 and a create account button80. Button 78 is for bidder 38 to press to submit bid entry form 76 tocentral computer 18. Create account button 80 is preferably a linkbutton for bidder 38 to press to connect remote computer 30 to on-lineaccount HTML template 27 so that the bidder can create a bidder account.

Referring again to FIG. 5, central computer 18 is linked to database 14such that central computer 18 can query registration records 42 storedin database 14. This ensures that when central computer 18 receives abid entry form, the central computer can verify that the bidder name 44and/or bidder identification number 50 match an existing registrationrecord 42 in database 14. Central computer 18 and database 14 arefurther linked such that central computer 18 can store a bid record 60in database 14. Bid record 60 includes the bidder name 44, bidderidentification number 50, bid amount 62, and bid designation 64 receivedin the bid entry form.

The operation of the preferred embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 1-10.FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the overall flow a preferred methodfor conducting an on-line bidding session according to the presentinvention. The bidding session is conducted to accumulate a collectivebid for a property. For example, and not by way of limitation, thebidding session may be conducted by an investment bank during acorporate takeover to accumulate a collective bid from small investorsin order to purchase a company. Of course, a company is just one exampleof a property for which a collective bid may be accumulated. It will beapparent from this description that the method of the present inventionmay be used to accumulate a collective bid for any type of property.Moreover, there may be only one bidding group accumulating a singlecollective bid for the property or multiple bidding groups, with eachbidding group accumulating a respective collective bid.

To start the bidding session, company 12 preferably receives a graphicalpicture and/or description of the property, as well as the names ofbidding group(s) wishing to participate. Next, in step 110, company 12registers at least one bidding group in central computer 18. To registerthe bidding group, company 12 inserts the name of the bidding group intobid entry form 76 of HTML template 22. Company 12 also preferablyinserts into bid entry form 76 the graphical picture and/or descriptionof the property. Next, bidders connect their remote computers 30 tocentral computer 18 to access bid entry form 76. When the bidders accessbid entry form 76, the bidding groups 66 and total bids 68 are displayedon their remote computers, as shown in FIG. 6.

Next, each bidder creates his or her own bidder account 40 in accountcreation computer 28. The creation of bidder accounts is generallyindicated as step 120 in FIG. 7 and detailed in steps 120-127 of FIG. 8.To start the creation of a bidder account, step 120 in FIG. 8, a bidderpresses create account button 80 of bid entry form 76. Pressing createaccount button 80 causes browser 29 to connect remote computer 30 toaccount creation form 32 contained in HTML template 27. The bidder fillsin three fields 54 of account creation form 32 with their name 44,financial account number 46, and financial account type 48, as shown inFIG. 3. The bidder then presses button 52 to send the new accountinformation to computer 28, step 121.

Upon receiving the new account information, account company 26 verifiesthe bidder name 44, financial account number 46, and financial accounttype 48 to ensure that they correspond to a valid financial account ofthe bidder. After successful verification, account creation computer 28generates identification number 50 for the bidder. Referring again toFIG. 2, account creation computer 28 then generates new accountconfirmation message 34 on mail server E2 and sends message 34 to mailclient E3 of remote computer 30. Bidder 38 then receives new accountconfirmation message 34 on mail client E3, step 122. Bidder 38 confirmsthe new account information by pressing button 58 of new accountconfirmation message 34, step 123.

Upon receiving successful confirmation of the new account information,account creation computer 28 stores bidder account 40 for bidder 38.Account creation computer 28 also generates bidder registration message36 on mail server E2. Registration message 36 is then sent to mailserver E1 of central computer 18, step 124. When central computer 18receives message 36, central computer 18 creates registration record 42in database 14, step 125. Registration record 42 is then secured indatabase 14 from access from remote computers 30, step 126. Securingregistration record 42 ensures confidentiality of account informationfor bidder 38. This ends the account creation process, step 127.

After registering at least one bidding group in central computer 18,company 12 starts an on-line bidding session for the property, which isgenerally indicated as step 130 in FIG. 7 and detailed in steps 130-138in FIG. 9. To submit bids, each bidder completes the four fields 57 ofbid entry form 76 with the bidder name 44, identification number 50, bidamount 62, and bid designation 64, as shown in FIG. 6. After completingthe bid entry form 76, the bidder presses enter bid button 78 to sendthe bid information to central computer 18.

Central computer 18 receives bid entry form 76 entered from remotecomputer 30, step 131. Central computer 18 then queries database 14 toverify that the bidder name 44 and bidder identification number 50received on the bid entry form match an existing registration record.The query results indicate if the bidder has a valid bidder account,step 132. If the answer is NO, central computer 18 executes step 134,notifying the bidder that he or she does not have a valid bidderaccount. After notifying the bidder, central computer 18 proceeds tostep 137, which will be described below.

If the answer is YES, central computer 18 proceeds to step 133,recording bid record 60 in database 14. Bid record 60 includes thebidder name 44, identification number 50, bid amount 62, and biddesignation 64, as shown in FIG. 5. Next, central computer 18contributes bid amount 62 to the total bid of the designated groupindicated by bid designation 64, step 135. After contributing bid amount62, central computer 18 updates total bids 68 in real-time, step 136.Changes in total bids 68 are dynamically displayed to the bidders bysending commands from HTML template 22 to browsers 29. The commandscause browsers 29 to update themselves so that the bidders may view theupdated total bids after each bid amount is contributed. Specifictechniques of updating browsers in this manner are well known in theart.

Next, central computer 18 determines if the bidding session iscompleted, step 137. If the answer is NO, central computer 18 returns tostep 131, receiving another bid entry form 76. If the answer is YES, thebidding session ends, step 138. In the preferred embodiment, the biddingsession runs for a pre-defined period of time, such as two weeks, sothat central computer 18 can determine if the bidding session iscompleted by using a chronometer (not shown). A time period of two weeksis used for illustrative purposes only. It is to be understood that anyduration could be set for the bidding session. In an alternativeembodiment, the bidding session runs until bidding activity slows belowa pre-defined threshold, such as receiving fewer than three bids perday. Again, this is only an example of a suitable threshold. Any otherthresholds for minimum bidding activity could be set.

After the bidding session is completed, it is determined if the totalbid of any bidding group exceeds a minimum price or threshold value forthe property, step 140 in FIG. 7. For example, if the property is apublic company, the threshold value may be set as the stock market priceof the company. Alternatively, the owner(s) of the property may set anydesired minimum price for which he or she is willing to sell theproperty. If the total bid of any bidding group exceeds the thresholdvalue, the method preferably includes the additional step of processinga winning group, generally indicated as step 150 in FIG. 7 and detailedas steps 150-156 in FIG. 10.

Referring to FIG. 10, company 12 declares the one bidding group havingthe largest total bid which exceeds the threshold value the winninggroup, step 151. Next, the winning group is displayed on remotecomputers 30 for the bidders to view, step 152. Central computer 18 thenretrieves winning bid records from database 14, step 153. The winningbid records are those bid records whose bid designation 64 indicates thewinning group.

Central computer 18 then sends the winning bid records from mail serverE1 to mail server E2 of account company 26. Account company 26 usesbidder name 44 and/or bidder identification number 50 of each winningbid record to match each winning bid record to a corresponding bidderaccount, step 154. Next, for each winning bid record, account company 26charges the bid amount 62 to the financial account number 46 of thecorresponding bidder account, step 155. After charging the bid amountfor each winning bid record, account company 26 transfers the fundsgenerated to company 12, ending the winning group processing, step 156.

SUMMARY, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE

Although the above description contains many specificities, these shouldnot be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, but merely asillustrating the presently preferred embodiment. Many other embodimentsof the invention are possible. For example, the method for conducting anon-line bidding session according to the present invention need not beused exclusively for accumulating a collective bid for a publicly tradedcompany. The method of the present invention is effective foraccumulating a collective bid for any type of property.

In addition, the method described need not be conducted over theInternet using a world-wide web server. The method is effective usingany network that allows the transmission of data between bidders atremote locations and a central processor. Similarly, modems are notnecessary to network the central computer, account creation computer,and remote computers. Many other methods of connection are possible, asis well known in the art of computer networking.

For simplicity of understanding, the steps of registering bidding groupsand creating bidder accounts are presented before the step of commencinga bidding session. This is for illustrative purposes only, as biddinggroups may be registered in the central computer after the commencementof a bidding session. For example, bidders wishing to participate butnot wishing to bid with any of the current bidding groups may form a newbidding group during the bidding session. In this case, the bid entryform is updated during the bidding session with the name of the newbidding group. Similarly, bidders can create bidder accounts eitherbefore or during the bidding session if they desire to contribute to thetotal bid of a bidding group.

Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined by theappended claims and their legal equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for conducting an on-line biddingsession to accumulate a collective bid for a property, the biddingsession being conducted over a computer network comprising a centralcomputer, a plurality of remote computers, and communication linesconnecting the remote computers to the central computer, the methodcomprising the steps of:a) registering a bidding group in the centralcomputer, wherein the bidding group has a total bid; b) receiving in thecentral computer bids entered from the remote computers, wherein each ofthe bids comprises an individual bid amount; and c) contributing theindividual bid amounts to the total bid to accumulate the collective bidfor the property.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the stepof creating bidder accounts in an account creation computer networked tothe central computer, wherein each of the accounts comprises a biddername, a bidder identification number, and a financial account number. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein the bidder accounts are created bybidders from the remote computers prior to entering the bids.
 4. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising the step of creating registrationrecords in a database accessible to the central computer, wherein eachof the registration records corresponds to a respective one of thebidder accounts and includes the bidder name and the bidderidentification number of the corresponding bidder account.
 5. The methodof claim 4, further comprising the steps of:a) receiving in the centralcomputer with each of the bids the name and the identification number ofthe bidder who entered the bid; b) verifying that the name and theidentification number match an existing registration record in thedatabase prior to contributing the individual bid amount to the totalbid; and c) recording a bid record in the database, wherein the bidrecord comprises the bid amount and the identification number of thebidder who entered the bid.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprisingthe steps of:a) determining if the total bid exceeds a threshold valuefor the property; and b) if the total bid exceeds the threshold value;i)declaring the bidding group a winning group; ii) retrieving the bidrecords from the database; iii) matching each of the bid records to acorresponding bidder account; and iv) charging the corresponding bidderaccount the bid amount stored in the bid record.
 7. The method of claim1, further comprising the steps of displaying the total bid on theremote computers and updating the total bid in real-time after each ofthe individual bid amounts is added to the total bid.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the step of displaying on the remotecomputers a description of the property.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the central computer comprises a web server and thecommunication lines comprise Internet lines.
 10. A system for conductingan on-line bidding session to accumulate a collective bid for aproperty, the system having a computer network comprising:a) a centralcomputer for registering a bidding group and a total bid for saidbidding group; b) a plurality of remote computers for entering bids,wherein each bid comprises an individual bid amount; c) a plurality ofcommunication lines connecting the remote computers to the centralcomputer, such that the central computer receives the bids from theremote computers and contributes the individual bid amounts to the totalbid to accumulate the collective bid for the property.
 11. The system ofclaim 10, further comprising an account creation computer networked tothe central computer for creating accounts comprising a bidder name, abidder identification number and a financial account number.